A New Beginning

A kitchen rebuilt from scratch triumphs over its awkward 1760 design

Nino DeNicola's romance with cooking began when he was a boy helping in his parent's French restaurant in Connecticut. For Gail Eisenkraft, it began with their love story. Together at the range, they became a cooking team to reckon with. But the disjointed kitchen of their Southport, Connecticut, home was no match for their lavish culinary skills.

The early American Colonial, circa-1760 farmhouse was saddled with a kitchen remodeled in the 1970s. "Everything was in the wrong place," says Gail, "I hated the kitchen from the moment I saw it."

The farm sink and gooseneck faucet were on the couple's wish list, as was the wood block chopping area to the left of the range. The pair of windows over the sink appear to be original, but one was added for more light. The old kitchen, inset, had low windows and cramped spaces.

That small window became a 55-by-60-inch window wall that looks out to the adjacent sunroom and gardens. The multipane design replicates old-style mullions in the house's other windows. The couple dines at a French wine-tasting table.

There were so many problems: Avocado green appliances made the space feel dark and brooding. An added-on sunroom was visible from only one window. There was little free wall space: Every wall had either a door or window. The 14-by-15-foot kitchen was not large enough, and the layout was awkward, with a range on one side and a refrigerator and sink opposite. There was limited counter surface and cramped storage space. And the old wall oven tended to burn rather than bake. It was not a cook's kitchen, and the couple decided to renovate it.

Over several months, the couple worked up a detailed drawing of a dream kitchen on graph paper, then they painstakingly selected an architect, Matthew E. Schoenherr of Z Architecture in nearby Branford, to help them carry out their plan. Gail wanted to raise the low ceiling (then 7 feet 4 inches high) by about 4 feet to give the space a sense of greater volume. And Schoenherr wanted to "stack the cabinets on the gable end wall, for increased storage and drama."

The sunroom and kitchen were once separated by an interior wall and, over the sink, one small window.

The antique ladder against the wall leads to a faux door replacing an original opening, discovered when the low ceiling, inset above, was raised during renovation. The door on the left is open to the adjacent sunroom. The hallway leads to a guest bath and bedroom; doors are painted brick red.

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